The commission said a fatal boating accident was reported there Saturday when 64-year-old Donald "Donny" Wright was trying to help two others who had gotten too close to the whirlpool, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Wright's kayak capsized.

Wright, who ran a halfway house called Life Recovery Center of Searcy, had been floating on the river with some of the residents for about 15 minutes before the accident happened, according to The Daily Citizen.

A GoFundMe page was created to help cover Wright's funeral expenses and support Life Recovery Center of Searcy. Since Monday, it has raised more than $900.

A GoFundMe page was created after Donald "Donny" Wright drowned in the Spring River in northern Arkansas Saturday, June 9, 2018.

GoFundMe

The commission, along with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Fulton County employees, have since installed buoys and roped off the area where the whirlpool is located, the commission reported on Facebook.

The river is still open to the public, "but the barricaded area should not be breached," the commission warned in its Facebook post.

Engineers are expected to be on site this week to assess the area, the commission said in a statement.

A massive sinkhole in the Studio City section of Los Angeles swallowed two vehicles as Southern California wrestled with a huge weekend Pacific storm. Authorities say the severe weather has left at least two people dead. (Associated Press/Feb. 18,